Gujarat Muslims wary of Cong after it shifts focus to Patidars
Community still backs party due to lack of options but says resentment growing
JUHAPURA (AHMEDABAD): Has the Congress discarded secularism? It is a question that has troubled 40-year-old Sufi Anwarhusen Sheikh for some time now.
And there are many more in this Muslim ghetto, with an estimated population of five lakh, that would like a clear answer to this as they get ready to elect a new government in Gujarat.
The absence of a credible alternative has once again made Muslims reliant on the Congress despite resentment that the grand old party has dumped them for the influential Patidar community.
That apart, Congress vicepresident Rahul Gandhi’s temple visits during his campaign in the state has also made them think that the opposition party is adopting a soft-Hindutva approach in an attempt to counter the BJP.
Sheikh says the community has no issues with Gandhi’s temple run. “.... But he should also visit the (Muslim) shrines,” he says, sipping tea in the premises of a steel firm, located on the service road along the Delhi-Mumbai highway.
He also realises the Congress’ dilemma — that if the party talks about Muslims, the BJP could exploit voters with the Hindutva agenda.
In 2007, Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s “maut ke saudagar (merchants of death)” barb aimed at then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi boomeranged in the assembly elections. This forced the party to avoid any mention of the 2002 riots in subsequent polls.
The party has been especially careful this year because it thinks it can see chinks in the armour of the BJP which has ruled Gujarat for 22 years.
“Congress is facing a strange dilemma. If it is seen favouring the minorities, the majority community gets alienated,” says political analyst Prakash Shah. Congress spokesperson Kailash Kumar Gadhvi rejected the suggestion.
Shah, however, adds the Muslims have a “legitimate” complaint against the Congress.
“It is the only option for Muslims but for many years the party has not done much to ensure their adequate representation in mainstream politics,” he says.
The representation of Muslim legislators in the Gujarat assembly came down from 12 in 1980 to just two in 2012.
“BJP is like cyanide for us and Congress is like slow poison,” says Peerzada Mazhar Ahmed, a 50-year-old tailor who lives in the Maulana Azad Park Society.
Anwarhusen Sheikh, however, says it is not clear if the Congress will benefit by discarding KHAM, a strategy successfully implemented by former chief minister Madhavsinh Solanki by stitching a social coalition of Kshatriya, Harijan, Adivasi and Muslims in 1980.
Though the Congress managed to shift the balance of power from the Patel-Brahmins-Baniyas, winning 149 of 182 seats, the move alienated the upper castes.
While Muslims account for 9% of the state’s 60 million-odd population, Patidars constitute 12%.
“We no longer figure in Congress’ scheme of things. P (Patidars) has replaced M (Muslims) in their KHAM strategy ….Let’s see if it works,” says Anwarhusen Sheikh.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is making its electoral debut in Gujarat but residents of Juhapura doubt its ability to make any impact.
Juhapura, which housed the biggest relief camp after the 2002 riots, is part of the Vejalpur constituency that also has around two lakh Hindu voters.
The area was initially developed in 1973 by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for those who lost their homes in floods. Sarni Kamdar was the first housing society in the area.
As campaigning is yet to pick up, the usual hustle and bustle of elections is missing and no party has so far started canvassing in the area.
But the Muslims know what the burning issues will be when the leaders start arriving, patriotism and nationalism.